Conveyor unit



R. L. RATH CONVEYOR UNIT Dec. 15, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed J1me 28, 1957 D 1959 R. L. RATH 2,917,148

CONVEYOR UNIT Filed June 28, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IINVENTOR. mcuARo L. RATI'H H6 6 4M ZM United States Patent CONVEYOR UNIT Richard L. Rath, Meadville, Pa. Application June 28, 1957, Serial No. 668,638

6 Claims. Cl. 193-35 This invention relates to conveyors and, more particularly, to a roller glide unit.

In the moving and transportation of flat surfaced objects, including light weight sheets of steel or other materials which have to be transported from one position to another during production or transfer in a factory or like establishment, it is a problem to conveniently provide conveyor means for so transporting the material. The present invention contemplates a roller type of glide unit which can be supported at random or in a predetermined position on a flat surface so that material to be conveyed, especially large fiat sheets, can be readily conveyed over the glide unit.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide a roller glide unit which is simple in construction, economical to manufacture, and simple and efiicient to use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a roller glide unit which can be readily supported on a flat supporting surface or the like.

A further object of this invention is to provide a roller glide unit comprising an improved structure.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists of the combination and arrange- Fig. 3 is a view of the cover for the unit shown in inverted position;

Fig. 4 is a view of the base shown in Fig. 2 with the roller assembled therein;

Fig. 5 is an exploded view of the roller and bearings according to the invention;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of another embodiment of the roller glide unit taken on line 66 p of Fig. 8;

Fig. 7 is a broken away top view of the unit with the roller in place; and

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

Now with more specific reference to the drawings, a roller glide unit 10 is shown made up of a base 11, bearings 12 which can be of the standard needle bearing type, a roller 13, and a housing 14. Instead of needle bearings, oil impregnated bronze bushings or other suitable bearings could be used.

The base 11 is made up of a flat plate like bottom member 15 having spaced bearing supports 16 integrally attached thereto at 17. The bearing supports 16 have 2,917,148 Patented Dec. '15, 1959 upwardly directed concave supporting surfaces18 which support the needle bearings 12. The bottom member 15 extends outwardly beyond the ends of the bearing supports 16 and the outwardly extending ends underlie lower surfaces 40 of ends 28 of the base 11. The outer ends of tongues 24 lie in outer ends 43 of grooves 26.

The roller 13 has a cylindrical main body portion 20 terminating at each end in reduced size journal members 21 which are adapted to be received inside a bore 22 of the needle bearings or bushings'1'2. The needle bearings or bushings 12 rest in the concave surfaces 18. The

outer edges of the bottom 15 have the tongues 24 thereon which are disposed parallel to the bottom 15 and are received in the opposed parallel grooves 26 formed in the lower inside surfaces of sides 27 of the cover or housing .14.

The cover 14 is a hollow box like member and has the sides 27, the ends 28, and a top 29 with a slot 30 therein through which a part of the roller 13 extends with ends 31 in proximate relation to the ends of the slot 30. The inside of the cover 14 hasiboss members 32 which have a downwardly directed concave surface 33 which engages the upper surfaces of the needle bearings or bushings 12 and holds the bearings 12 in place on the upwardly directed convex surfaces of the roll journals 21. Holes 39 are formed in the bosses 32. The holes 39 extend through the cover 14 and are counterbored at 38 to receive the heads of screws 37. Slots 50 in the sides of the cover 14 form continuations of the holes 39 and the slots 50 register with slots 51 in the sides of the base 11. The screws 37 may extend through the holes 39 and through the openings formed by the slots 50 and 51 and may extend therefrom to attach the glide unit 10 to a supporting surface, for example, a floor or truck bed, or the opposite ends of the unit10 could be attached to two parallel beams, thereby forming a conveyor.

The roller glide unit 10 may be manufactured in separate parts and the parts assembled by inserting the journals 21. into the bearings 12 and disposing the bearings 12 with the journals 21 therein on the base 11. The cover 14 can then be disposed over the roller 13 and the base 11. When the lower portions of the cover 14 below thegrooves 26 engage the tongues 24 and as force is increased, urging the cover 14 over the base 11, the tongues 24 will spread the lower portions of the cover 14 and the tongues 24 will snap into the grooves 26. The lower portions of the sides will snap back into position and the base 11 will be held rigidly assembled to the cover 14 with the roller 13 therebetween.

It has beendiscovered that materials such as cast metals, plastic, and the like can be successfully used for making the cover 14 and that they will have sufficient resiliency to allow the tongues 24 to snap into the grooves 26.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 6, 7, and 8, the structure is similar to that shown in Figs. 1 to 5 and some of the corresponding index numerals have one hundred added thereto.

Tongues 124 are designed to snap into grooves 126 to hold the base 11 assembled .to the cover 114. The cover 114 and the tongues 124 on the sides of the base 11 are somewhat different as will be clearly apparent from an examination of the drawings. The ends of the cover 114 extend downwardly from the top along with the ends of the base 11.

The foregoing specification sets forth the invention in its preferred practical forms but the structure shown is capable of modification within a range of equivalents without departing from the spirit of the invention which is to be understood is broadly novel as is commensurate with the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an excluv n 3 sive' property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A roller glide unit comprising a plate like bottom member, spaced bearing supports on said bottom member, said bearing supports each terminating at their distal ends in a concave surface, a roller, said roller having a journal surface on each end thereof, said journal surfaces disposed in said concave surfaces on said distal ends, a cover, said cover comprising a top, sides, ends, and an open bottom, a slot in said top parallelwith the sides thereof, said cover being disposed over said roller with a portion of said roller extending through said slot, and means inside said cover engaging said journal surfaces holding said journal surfaces in said concave SllI-' having. spaced bearing means thereon for supporting'a' roller, said roller having journal means supported on said bearing means on said base, and a cover, said cover having means thereon holding said journal means in said bearing means, a longitudinal portion of said roller extending through said, cover, said base terminating at the bottom thereof in laterally disposed, longitudinally extending tongues, said cover having sides with grooves therein, said grooves receiving said tongues holding said base, cover, and. roller in assembled relation.

3 3 8 a a W 3. A roller glide unit comprising a base, a roller, a cover, said base comprising a flat plate like bottommember having two spaced bosses thereon, each said boss terminating at its upper end in an upwardly facing concave portion, said roller having a journal at each end thereof, said journals having means thereon received in said concave portion, said cover comprising a hollow box like member having sides, ends and a top, a slot in said top, a portion of said roller extendingthrough said slot in said top, said sides having longitudinally extending grooves in the insidesurface of their lower portions, and tongue means on the outer edges of said base engaging said grooves ins-aid cover sides;

4. The unit recited inclaim 3 wherein said sides are made of relatively rigid, slightly elastic material whereby said sides may be sprung laterally apart slightly to allow said tongue means to snap into said grooves.

5, The unit recited in claim 4 wherein the sides of said cover extend downwardly below the lower terminal edges of said ends thereof and said-bottom of said base-- extends longitudinally and its ends terminate flush with the outer surfaces of said ends. I

6; The unit recited in claim 4 wherein screws extend through said cover and said base and are adapted to at tach said unit to a supporting surface.

References Cited in the. file of this patent- UNITED STATES PATENTS? 1,240,279 Wilson Sept. 18, 191.7- 1,545,073 Stevens et al. July 7, 1925 2,172,380; 

